Clinician News

Optimising EPLIS - SA Pathology’s new laboratory information system

A taskforce established to review delays to some of SA Pathology’s test result times has delivered its final report, outlining significant improvements over the past three months.

In May, it was identified that problems with the roll out of a new state-wide pathology IT system, EPLIS, was contributing to extended waiting times for laboratory test results for hospitals and GPs.

The Minister for Health and Wellbeing, Stephen Wade, established an EPLIS Taskforce to investigate the cause of the delays. He has now publically released the taskforce report.

One of the main factors that contributed to delays was a more complex initial data-entry requirement of the new system.

SA Health has accepted the 12 recommendations in the report and an EPLIS Optimisation Project team is implementing the changes.

EPLIS Millennium links the 18 labs across metropolitan and county South Australia into a single IT system, designed to make the most of a new automated track system in public hospitals.

Changes to the way results are formatted have improved view of results for General Practitioners, further improvements will be made to improve the way hospital clinicians, and GPs receive the information.